Criminal probe started into Texas fertilizer plant blast

One of the emergency responders at last month's deadly Texas fertilizer plant explosion is now charged with possessing materials for a pipe bomb, a court document states.

Authorities on Friday said they are launching a criminal investigation into last month's blast in the town of West, but have not said if the arrest of Bryce Reed is connected.

Local sheriff's deputies were called on Tuesday to a residence where they found components for a pipe bomb, according to a criminal complaint affidavit.

The officers determined that Reed had given the materials to the resident of that home last month.

Among the materials found were a galvanized metal pipe, a fuse, coils of metal ribbon and several bags of chemical powders, the affidavit states.

Reed, who was arrested early Friday, is charged with possession of a destructive device.

"At this time authorities will not speculate whether the possession of the unregistered destructive device has any connection to the West fertilizer plant explosion," the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Texas said in a release.

If convicted, Reed would face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Reed spoke last month at a memorial for the victims at Baylor University.

The arrest details came as authorities said they conducting a thorough criminal investigation into the April 17 fire and explosion that killed 14 in the small town of West.

"This disaster has severely impacted the community of West, and we want to ensure that no stone goes unturned and that all the facts related to this incident are uncovered," DPS Director Steven McCraw said.

On Monday, the state fire marshal's office said it ruled out four potential causes: weather, natural causes, anhydrous ammonium, and ammonium nitrate in a rail car.

The fire began in the fertilizer and seed building, but authorities still were trying to figure out the exact spot, the fire marshal's office said Monday.

The blast happened about 20 minutes after the first report of a fire at the fertilizer facility. It registered on seismographs as a magnitude-2.1 earthquake and could be felt 50 miles away.

The explosion damaged numerous homes, a nursing home and the town's high school and middle school, all of which were built within a few hundred feet of the plant. West is about 70 miles south-southwest of Dallas.

Scores of investigators have followed up on scores of leads relating to the explosion. At least 60 investigators have been on site each day and have conducted 411 interviews in trying to determine how the fire started and what caused the explosion.

"The citizens of McLennan County and Texas must have confidence that this incident has been looked at from every angle and professionally handled -- they deserve nothing less," McLennan Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.

West Fertilizer Co., which operated the facility, had been cited by federal regulators twice since 2006.

The agency originally recommended a $10,000 penalty, but it was reduced after the company took corrective action.

In 2006, the EPA fined it $2,300 and told the owners to correct problems that included a failure to file a risk management program plan on time. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality also investigated a complaint about the lingering smell of ammonia around the plant the same year.